Five Olympians to headline round six of NORBA series
The usual contenders return to Schweitzer
Sandpoint — The NORBA National Mountain Bike Championship Series returns next weekend to Schweitzer Mountain Resort after a five-week break. The sixth stop will see some of the world's top mountain bike athletes return to the NORBA Circuit in preparation for August's Olympic cross-country contest.
Leading the men's races will be U.S. Olympic Team members Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.) and Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), and Canadian Olympic Team members Ryder Hesjedal and Seamus McGrath.
Four-time national champion Horgan-Kobelski is ranked tenth in the world, and earned his nomination to the Olympic team as the highest ranked American rider in the UCI standings. 2002 U.S. National Short-Track Champion Todd Wells secured his spot on the Olympic team with a top-25 overall ranking in the World Cup standings. Both are first-time Olympians and familiar faces on NORBA podiums.
0002000004ED000003E44E7,Hesjedal, the 2003 Mountain Bike World Championships silver medalist, is the highest ranked Canadian in the standings at 19th. Both Hesjedal and McGrath have been dominating forces in the NORBA Series.
Highlighting the women's events in Idaho will be the current NORBA Series Champion and 2004 Argentine Olympian Jimena Florit. The well-liked RLX/Ralph Lauren team member received a start in the Olympic cross-country race as available spots were allotted to riders whose countries were not already represented.
Being an Olympic year with typical NORBA contenders focusing on a trip to Athens, the season has unfolded with new faces on top of the podiums. The overall rankings bear witness to the unusual season as Travis Brown (Boulder, Colo.) tops the men's cross-country rankings, and Shonny Vanlandingham (Durango, Colo.) tops the women's. In the short track rankings, Chris Sheppard (CAN) and Katerina Hanusova (CZE) are in the lead. Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.), Kerry Barnholt (Los Altos, Calif.), and Adam Craig (Bangor, Me.) have also been among the top American finishers this year. Next weekend should feature much drama as the big names return to improve their NORBA standings and those who are new to the spotlight try to stay in it.
0002000003F8000008CB3F2,Gravity events should see some tight competition over the weekend as well, as the NORBA Series is past the half way mark. Leading the mountain cross series going into round six is Eric Carter (Temecula, Calif.) and Jill Kitner (Murietta, Calif.) The downhill competition will see Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.) try to repeat the success she had in Mount Snow five weeks earlier when she beat her nearest threat by 18 seconds. Bernadita Pizarro Lazo (Chile) will fight to hold on to her number one ranking. Reigning World Champion Greg Minaar (RSA) presently leads the men's contest, but riders such as John Kirkcalidie (NZL) and Dustin Adams (CAN) could steal that first place spot.
Schweitzer Mountain Resort looks forward to another successful year. The pro action begins on Friday with the mountain cross qualifier. Saturday will feature the cross-country, Super-D, and mountain-cross finals, while Sunday will close out the weekend in appropriate form with the downhill and short track competitions.